RaghuBytes

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After last week’s blog on my MP dream-turned-nightmare, I have received a deluge of calls and messages. Obviously, my lament that the people of India are largely unable to distinguish between the functions of the Centre, State and Local governments resonates with some people. Read more »

Now that the candidates are all on the campaign trail in the hot sun, I must let in my readers into a secret. I was offered the opportunity to contest the elections on behalf of a strong and rising political party. Read more »

Last week I quoted from Ambedkar to prove that he was not an unwavering opponent of decentralization. Predictably, this disclosure did not set the nation afire. However, from the feedback I received, it did make a difference to the notions that some people harboured about Ambedkar. Read more »

A month back, I had broken off from relating the history of the local government system in India, to meander into a series of blogs on how money could flow easier to local governments than how it does now. Read more »

Twenty five years back I was the Deputy Secretary, Protocol and Cabinet in the government of Karnataka. It was an important job. I handled all cars and peons in the Secretariat, all guest houses of the State and allocated ministers their houses. Read more »

Let your imagination fly. Presume that you are a Panchayat president or secretary, in an ideal world. On a Monday, you go to office to be greeted by the contractor, who is building the additional classroom that your gram sabha had approved, as a part of your annual action plan under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Read more »

No sooner did my blog of last week go online, than I began to get reactions on it. Those from my friends in the bureaucracy were guarded. An officer who heads a mission office; one of the kind that I decried in my blog, was guarded in her response. Read more »

I am afraid I have to interrupt the saga of decentralization to local governments because something hard to believe happened last week. Buried in the Finance Minister’s speech was a significant announcement, which if implemented will have far reaching effects on how money will be transferred from the central government all the way down to the Panchayats and Municipalities. Read more »

Today, a lot of English educated liberal people get hot under the collar at the mention of Khaps, which are community bodies that often hit the news for the wrong reasons; for ordering excommunication or worse; punishments of those who dare to break prohibitions against inter-community marriages, for instance. Read more »

T.R. Raghunandan is Advisor to the Accountability Initiative and our resident public finance expert.

A former Joint Secretary Government of India, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (Rural local governments),(2004-2009), Secretary Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Karnataka State (2001-2004), he works in several States directly with Panchayats, their advocacy associations and a wide range of NGOs in the governance space. more...